Two more days of our adventure

Wow, how to condense the last two days into one e-mail is going to be tough but I am going to try and capture these memories with words. Thursday morning was 67 degrees and humid but at least the rain had stopped before we got on the road. We once again meandered through more of the roads peppered with colonial houses. Heading on Hwy 44 we traveled through Harford, CT the capitol city which had some very busy and run down parts. The other part of town had the newer homes, stores and restaurants. As we continued passing through the little towns we noticed that each one listed the year that they were established, settled or incorporated, not their population. Some as early as 1654 others in the early 1700's.

At 2:00 we were back in New York, where we picked up gas at $2.89 per gallon. Before we knew it we found ourselves in the Palisades Parkway traveling around Bear Mountain and once again crossing paths with the Appalachian Trail. It took us 2 hours to get through the mountains and into New Jersey. We learned that 30 miles around here takes almost as long as it does to get 75 back home. The traffic is amazingly dense and fast but we did make it to Ron's house in Fair Lawn, NJ by 5:15. After a quick tour of his apartment we went to his brothers house. After spending a little time there we ran next door to see Frank. He had taken Cathy and friends on the cruise ship around NYC nearly 7 years ago. It was great visiting. The 6 of us went to Anthony Franco's Itailian restuarant for dinner.

Before retiring to Ron's apartment we took him on two geocaches in parks near his house.

This morning we went out for breakfast at "Brunch Lunch" a small Jewish diner just down the street. After filling up we were on the road with Ron driving and being our tour guide. The first stop Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken, NJ. We found a parking spot and took a little hike out on Pier A to view the NYC skyline across the Hudson River.

Back in the car and over to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. After grabbing a quick geocache we drove around to the water where we could see Ellis Island and Lady Liberty. It was a rearview of her, but was actually closer than the NY side. Good thing Ron had umbrellas because it was raining by this time. It was a nice warm rain that kept things from getting hot and muggy.

Next we went back into Hoboken to hop on the "Path", the train from Jersey to NYC. Our first stop was in Greenwich Village, we picked up a third umbrella from a street vendor for $4 and walked around Washington Park, under the arch and over to a virtual cache.

We spotted a "Subway" restaurant and grabbed a bite to eat and then hopped on the real Subway or Metro to go to 42nd and Broadway. We walked right into Times Square, saw the New Year's Eve Ball and the abundant flashing billboards on all the gigantic buildings.
Parts of the streets were shut down with a bunch of vendors lined up under tents selling everything you can imagine, food, clothes, jewelry, t-shirts. For my birthday Ron bought me two cashmere scarves and matching t-shirts for the 3 of us. We checked out the outside of "Times Square Church" and walked down to the Rockerfeller Center where some grass sod was being set up as a promotion for the Wimbelton. With our feet aching we decided we better find the subway. Ron says we are now official "strap hangers". We got off the subway a block before the train so we had to walk a couple blocks down Christopher Street. The Path was so full we had to stand all the way to Hoboken. the tunnel was pretty dark but it was neat to know we were traveling right under the Hudson River.

Once in the car we decided "Boston Market" would be a great place for dinner. We passed "Trader Joes" a place I had always wanted to check out since the last I heard there is only one in WI. So Ron took us there after we ate. I was amazed at the great organic foods for really great prices. Filled a large grocery bag for our trip home and only spent $11.